Lightyear!tm, the space game!

ABSTRACT

A unique game called Lightyear is described which is about space in which players play games of strategy, rescue, conquest, discovery, trivia and the like. The game may be realized as a board game as well as a computer game playable on one computer or using a network of computers connected using Internet or other wired or wireless networks. The board game version of Lightyear comprises of a game board with all the planets of the solar system drawn and laid out in a unique way on the board around the sun. The game board further comprises of one or more orbits around the sun. The orbits may be oval or circular or any other shape. There may be connectors between the orbits. The players play the specific version of the game on this board with play astronauts and play spaceships. The Lightyear rescue game may be played where the players setup an astronaut on each planet except Earth and race with each other using the rules of the game, to rescue astronauts to Earth from all the planets before losing their resources. The first person to rescue all their astronauts wins the game. The Lightyear conquest game may involve players playing a game of space conquest, where each player may start either from Earth or from their base space station on Pluto or any other planet, with a goal to get their astronauts on most planets. Once the bases are established the players may engage in space battle using rolling dice or drawing battle zone cards or the like to try to gain dominance over the entire solar system.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed to Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/922,504, entitled “Lightyear!™, the space game!” filed on Apr. 7, 2007, which is incorporated herein fully by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to games and in particular to board games and computer games. We describe a unique family game that can be played by young to old players. The game comprises of solar system, astronauts and space ships.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

We describe a unique game that we are currently calling Lightyear which is about space in which players play games of strategy, rescue, conquest, discovery, trivia and the like with a lot of fun learning about space. The board game version of Lightyear comprises of a game board with all the planets of the solar system laid out in a unique way on the board around the sun. The game board further comprises of one or more orbits around the sun. The orbits may be oval or circular or any other shape without any limitations. There may be connectors between the inner and the outer orbits. The players play the specific version of the game on this board with play astronauts and play spaceships. One version of this game comprises of eight connectors between the orbits that create eight parts. A planet is laid out in each part in its natural order from the Sun which is at the center. The players may start at their Pluto space station, which may be outside or inside the outer orbit, as their base in one version of the game. The rescue game may be played where the players setup an astronaut on each planet except Earth and race with each other following the rules of the game, to rescue astronauts to Earth from all the planets without losing their resources. The first person to rescue all their astronauts wins the game.

There are multiple play scenarios and play methods as well as multiple game board layouts as discussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates Lightyear board

DESCRIPTION

We describe a unique game that we are currently calling Lightyear which is about space in which players play games of strategy, rescue, conquest, discovery, trivia and the like with a lot of fun learning about space. The board game version of Lightyear comprises of a game board with all the planets of the solar system laid out in a unique way on the board around the sun. The game board further comprises of one or more orbits around the sun. The orbits may be oval or circular or any other shape without any limitations.

One exemplary embodiment comprises of two orbits, an inner orbit around the sun and an outer orbit which are connected with each other through connectors. Each orbit and the connectors are divided into spaces which are used as move counts when the player move their play spaceships around the board. One exemplary embodiment comprises of eight connectors between the inner and the outer orbits, creating eight parts between the orbits. In one exemplary embodiment the orbits may be oval and in another embodiment they may be circular or any other shape. Another exemplary embodiment may comprise of quadrants with only four connectors between the inner and outer orbit. Many variations of the exemplary embodiments are possible as may be appreciated by one skilled in the art without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention.

Eight planets are placed around the sun, in between the orbits in one exemplary embodiment with eight connectors without limitations. Each planet may occupy one of the eight parts and may be laid out around the Sun in their natural order in the solar system. In one exemplary embodiment, there may be one or more space stations laid out outside the outer orbit representing futuristic space stations on Pluto. In such embodiment, the players may use their Pluto based space station as their base when the game starts. In another embodiment the Pluto base stations may be inside the outer orbit.

In one exemplary embodiment the players set up the board with an astronaut on each planet except Earth and then play the game of space rescue to bring all the astronauts to Earth safely. There are several other ways to play such space rescue game, for example there may be an astronaut setup on each of the planets and the players race to bring them all to their Pluto based stations. Yet another way to play the game may be to setup Astronauts on all planets except Earth and optionally on the Pluto based Space Stations. In such a version, the players may all start from the Earth with a goal to bring all their astronauts back to Earth.

Yet another embodiment of the game may involve players playing a game of space conquest, where each player may start either from Earth or from their base space station on Pluto or any other planet, with a goal to get their astronauts on most planets. Once the bases are established the players may engage in space battle using rolling dice or drawing battle zone cards or the like to try to gain dominance over the entire solar system.

In yet another embodiment of the game the players may engage in rescue or conquest or other missions around the solar system by using general knowledge or detailed knowledge about space or solar system or the planets or the like to either rescue their astronauts or establish their base on the specific planets or the like.

In another exemplary embodiment, Lightyear game may be created over a computer with the layout similar to the board game or different layout. The computer game may also be networked where players can play over the internet or other networks with players who may not be physically together in one place. The computer game of Lightyear may have lot more game scenarios and interactions with the players that are not described in this patent but are within the scope and spirit of this invention. The computer game would be an interactive game with animated graphics and vivid imagery of space, the solar system, the planets, the Sun, stars and the like and may also comprise lot more scientifically advanced quiz or trivia or general knowledge based activities for the players. One version of the game may allow the players to create virtual colonies in space on planets of their choosing and allow them to create interactive societies where a large number of players can play the game over a network. In such a game of space colonization, the players may be able to build virtual structures, buildings, bio-domes, plant life, animal life, other life forms and the like where other players may be able to visit their colonies, virtually over the internet. Such a game may also allow players to engage in virtual commerce where the players may use space currency that the game may define to buy, sell, lease or a combination or other activities for various virtual artifacts that may be created by the players.

As is obvious from the brief description above, there are multiple ways to use the inventions of this patent, without limitations, without departing from the principles and the spirit of the invention as can be appreciated by one skilled in the art. All such usages and embodiments of Lightyear game are within the scope and spirit of this patent whether expressly described or not. Following description is with regards to one or more such embodiment(s) of the invention without limitations, to avoid obscuring the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Lightyear rescue version of the game is an exciting new game where players get to race around the solar system in their play space ships. The players are in a space race to rescue their play astronauts from all the planets and bring them back to earth. The game plays anything but usual with many twists and turns. Players use their strategies and hope that the space ride is friendly so they can rescue their astronauts first without losing play fuel or space ships. The description below uses the game pieces with their names without qualifying them as “play” pieces for example “space ship” term is used instead of “play space ship” and the like. The game pieces are not illustrated in the drawings since there can be many different variations or design of the pieces.

Lightyear can also be played in many other ways as discussed above briefly.

Lightyear Space Rescue:

Goal of this version of Lightyear game is to bring all of a player's astronauts back to Earth. The first player to bring all the astronauts to Earth wins. Player with most astronauts on earth may also win if all other players run out of resources. If all players but one run out of resources, the player that still has resources automatically wins.

FIG. 1 illustrates Lightyear board. The Lightyear game board setup for the rescue game, how to start the game, the rules as well as various activities of the game are described below. The description below is to facilitate the discussion of the invention but is by no means construed as limitation of the invention. Various elements of the board are numbered only once to not obscure the figure. For example “Entry Zone” EZ, block 101, is labeled only once, however, all spots on the board labeled “EZ” retain the same functionality as the block 101 and all description for it applies to the spots labeled “EZ” on the board. The same applies to all other labeled blocks that appear multiple times on the board.

Number of Players:

This game may be played by one or more players.

Board Setup:

Set up one astronaut each for all players on all the planets except Earth.

Shuffle the Fate cards and Emergency cards and place them on the labeled spots, 120 & 121, on the board illustrated in FIG. 1. The fate cards and emergency cards are not illustrated, however, the type of information on these cards is outlined in the description below.

Game Start:

1. Players roll a die to decide who goes first and pick their Pluto space station (the number or the color of this station defines the number or the color of this player). Pluto space stations are numbered P1, P2, P3, P4 illustrated by blocks 116, 117, 118, 119 respectively. Any spot on the board that is applicable to a specific player only is labeled with the player number in brackets beside the label of the spot for example LY (P1), block 103, is the Lightyear spot/space that is applicable to player 1 (P1). In this patent, the term “space/spot” or “space” or “spot” is used to describe a location on the board where a player's play pieces may be placed. However, the term “space” is also used to describe space comprising the solar system, stars and the like as will be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art. 2. Player with the highest roll selects first and then other players in the highest to lowest roll. Players with the same roll may roll again to break the tie with high roll winning the tie. 3. Players take turns in clock-wise direction starting from the person with the lowest roll. 4. Each player gets equal number of space ships on their Pluto Space Station. 5. Each player gets equal number of fuel station markers (not illustrated). 6. Each player gets equal number of fuel tank cards (not illustrated).

The players may decide on whether they will use the power die or just the regular numbered dice. The game may be played with two regular dice or one regular die and a power die. The power die is a modifier die that may modify the result of the regular die roll as discussed below. It is very easy to substitute the dice with a spinning wheel, or any other means of enabling the players to make their moves, without departing from the principles and the spirit of this invention.

Rules:

The rescue version of the game may comprise of one or more of the following rules or a combination thereof. The rules are for one embodiment where the players decide to use one six faced numbered die and another six faced power die (not illustrated). The Six faced numbered die is a standard die with numbers from 1 through 6 on the six faces. The power die may be a six faced die as well with each face providing special power roll code. The power roll codes (also called power boost) and their meaning for this embodiment are described below.

1. Each player starts a new space ship on their “Start” location. For example the player 1 starts at “Start (P1)”, block 115. Other players start at their respective start spots with their numbers denoted by “Start (P2)”, “Start (P3)” and the like. 2. Each player flies their space ship in a clock-wise direction until special events occur for the space ship (described below). The direction of the movement may be counter clock-wise if so preferred without diverging from the principles and spirit of the invention. 3. In the inner circle or orbit, block 124, the space ships always move clockwise or if preferred counter clock-wise. One skilled in the art can easily appreciate that this rule and other rules are for one version of the game and can be changed (for example to allow a player to go in counter clock-wise direction or in both direction) without departing from the spirit and the principles of this patent. 4. Multiple space ships of each player can be traveling at the same time. Only one of them can be moved during the player's turn. 5. Each player rolls the regular numbered die and a Power die (with Power Boost labels). 6. Total (including Power Boost) Roll of 5 or less does not use any fuel. 6 or more roll uses one fuel tank. The player rolling 6 or more discards one fuel tank unless their ship has received Lightyear power or the fate card gave them free fuel as described below. Again it may be appreciated that this rule may be changed just like any other rules without departing from the spirit and the teachings of this patent. For example, the players may discard one fuel tank each turn irrespective of the die roll. 7. Number of the roll including the power die boost decides the number of spaces the player's ship flies or moves. 8. When a player's roll brings the space ship to the “Entry Zone”, EZ, block 101, with an arrow pointing towards the inner orbit (circle), the space ship is allowed to move inwards using the connector. A space ship is not allowed to enter the connector between the inner and the outer orbits if the roll does not end at one space of the entry zone. 9. Once the space ship enters the inner connector (like block 125), the direction of the ship cannot be changed until it reaches the inner or the outer orbit. 10. If a space ship-reaches a space or spot on the board with specific indicator, the player does what is required by the instructions for that space. For example, when a ship reaches a space that is a “Teleport Station” TS, like block 113, the player can teleport an astronaut to or from a planet of their choice from or to that space ship if the teleport station is numbered for that player like P1, P2, and the like. 11. A space ship must reach a “Landing Zone” LZ, like block 108, of any planet before the space ship is allowed to land on the planet. 12. Upon landing on a planet the player picks-up a fate card and does as instructed by the fate card. 13. A player's astronaut(s) on that planet can now be rescued. 14. One space ship can rescue only four or a predetermined number of astronauts at a time. So once a space ship has four astronauts or that predetermined number of astronauts on it, the space ship should head towards Earth to bring them back to Earth. The players can decide at the beginning of the game if they choose to play with this limitation or are they allowed to have as many astronauts on a space ship. 15. A space ship can leave all the astronauts on any International Space Station, like block 122, which is accessed by reaching the play spots “ISS #”, like block 126, to be picked-up later by it or another space ship of the player that reaches the same spot. 16. A spaceship can leave a planet only when the roll is more than the gravitational number (as shown in “Blast-Off Table” below) of the planet. For example to blast-off from Jupiter, a player must roll 6 or more (including the power boost). 17. To blast-off from a planet, the space ship uses up the number of fuel tanks corresponding to the planet's gravitational number. The player discards that many fuel cards. 18. When a space ship reaches a fuel station space, the player can establish a fuel station there and put their fuel station marker. Any time the player's ship reaches this fuel station again, the player gets a fixed number of fuel tank cards (not illustrated). 19. A player's ship that reaches their numbered Lightyear spot, like LY (P1) block 103 for player P1, receives “Infinite power” and a special triple boost of the roll. That spaceship can go around the entire solar system without ever losing any fuel including at landing or take-off. The player can choose whether to use triple boost or not during each turn. 20. The first player to rescue all the astronauts back to earth wins or the player with most astronauts on Earth wins if everyone else runs out of fuel or space ships. The player with resources left when all other players have lost their resources wins automatically.

Lightyear Spot:

Lightyear spot, LY (P1) and the like block 103, is the most desired space to get on. When a player's spaceship arrives on their Lightyear spot, that spaceship earns “Infinite power” during this game to go around the solar system any number of times without spending any fuel. Further, that spaceship earns a “Triple boost” of the roll (including the power die roll) each time for the rest of the game at the choice of the player.

All players can decide at the beginning of the game whether to give “Lightyear” power only to one spaceship or to all spaceships of the player that gets to the Lightyear space.

Landing Zone (“LZ”):

A space ship can only enter or exit a planet from its landing zone, like block 108, (two spaces per planet). A player's roll that ends in either of the two spaces can be used to land on a planet. The players can decide at the beginning of the game whether a ship is required or not required to land on a planet when it gets on the landing zone. When a spaceship arrives on a landing zone the player is required to draw a fate card from the stack of cards and take the action that is described on the fate card. If the fate card drawn requires a player to land on a planet, then there is no option but to land on the planet whether the astronaut from that planet has been rescued or not.

When blasting-off from a planet, the player can select either spaces of the landing zone to start from. However, the spaceship can exit a planet only if the roll (including the power die) is equal to or more than the gravitational number (shown on the Blast-off table). Further, when blasting-off a planet a player needs to use the gravitational number of fuel tank cards and put them in the discarded fuel pile.

Teleport Station (TS):

When a player's ship reaches a teleport station with their number, like block 113, the player has a choice to teleport (i.e. transport or bring) an astronaut to or from that ship to a planet of their choice or vice-versa. For example, if a space ship is carrying two astronauts, one of them could be teleported to earth in this turn without taking the space ship to Earth. A player may also choose to teleport an astronaut from a planet that has a high gravitational number to the ship without visiting the planet as well. The choice will depend on each player and their strategy.

Entry Zone (EZ):

Each connector that joins the inner orbit and the outer orbit has three spaces on the outer orbit (with an arrow) marked as the entry zone (EZ), like block 101. A space ship is allowed to enter the connector from the outer orbit only when a player's roll (including the power die) ends at one of the spaces of the entry zone. On such a roll the player can chose to put the space ship on the center space of the entry zone which has an arrow pointing towards the inner orbit.

There are no such restrictions on the inner orbit.

Fuel Station Space (FS):

When a player's spaceship first reaches a space with a label indicating a “Fuel Station”, the player can establish a fuel station at that space by putting the fuel station marker. Next time when any spaceship of the player arrives at this space (that is the roll ends at this space not just passing through) they get a fixed number of fuel tank cards from the extra fuel cards stack.

BATFIRE Space (BF):

When a player's spaceship arrives on their BATFIRE space, BF (P1 or P2 or like) like block 107, the player earns power to fly this space ship to any planet or bump an opponent's spaceship to any planet on this turn.

Nuclear Power (NP):

When a player's spaceship reaches their “Nuclear Power” space, indicated by the label like NP (P1 or P2 or like) like block 113, that spaceship acquires a special power and now it can go around the board in any direction of the player's choice. The spaceship has to go in the same direction on the board during one turn though.

Stop Space (LTT)

When a player's spaceship reaches any Stop space indicated by the label “LTT”, like block 102, that player looses two turns for repairs on the space ship.

Fate Space (FS):

When a player's spaceship arrives on any Fate space indicated by the label “FS”, like block 112, the player must draw a Fate Card from the top of the fate card stack. The player is now required to follow the instructions on the fate card. Some fate cards may award some special privilege to the player like “Go to Earth on one of the turns”, the player can hold onto such a card and use it at an appropriate time in the game. Such privilege fate cards may be marked with a label. All fate cards without the privilege marking must be used in the current turn.

Hazard Space (EC):

When a player's spaceship arrives on any Hazard space indicated by the label “EC”, like block 110, the player must draw an Emergency card from the top of the emergency card stack. The player is now required to follow the instructions on the emergency card.

Emergency Landing (EL):

When a player's spaceship reaches on any Emergency Landing space indicated by the label “EL”, like block 106, the spaceship is required to land on the closest planet. The player looses five or another predetermined number of fuel cards for emergency landing. When on the planet, the player is allowed to rescue any of their astronauts on the planet as long as there are not more than allowed rescued astronauts on the spaceship (if playing by that rule).

Explosion Space (EXP):

When a player's spaceship reaches any Explosion space indicated by a label “EXP”, like block 105, the player looses the spaceship. The astronauts on this spaceship may be placed on that space, and can be rescued by another spaceship that lands on a spot within a fixed number of spots from the explosion space. A player that looses all the spaceships is out of the game and automatically looses this round of the game.

Players at the beginning of the game can decide whether the astronauts can be rescued or not when a spaceship reaches the explosion space.

Detour Space (GB):

When a player's spaceship reaches any Detour space indicated by a label “GB”, like block 104, the player's spaceship turns around and goes the other way until it lands on a planet.

International Space Stations 1-4:

When a player's spaceship reaches any of the International space stations space labeled (ISS #1, ISS #2 and the like), like blocks 109 and 126, the ship can drop-off or pick-up astronauts to or from the space station left on the space like block 122.

Blast-Off Table:

Following is the Blast-off Gravitation Number (roll gravitational number to blast-off) that must be rolled and the fuel number (low number) that is required to pay the gravitational number fuel cards to blast off from a planet.

1. Mercury (one or more) 2. Venus (two or more) 3. Earth (three or more) 4. Mars (three or more) 5. Jupiter (six or more) 6. Uranus (four or more) 7. Neptune (four or more) 8. Saturn (five or more)

It can be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art that the table above may be replaced with other table with values or actions without departing from the spirit and the principles of this invention.

Power Die:

Lightyear can be played with either two regular dice or one regular die and one power die.

“Regular” die as used in this patent describes a six-sided die with numbers 1 through 6 placed on different faces of the die. The players can decide at the beginning of the game the way they choose to play. If the power die is used for the game (including deciding who goes first), it is rolled on every turn (including extra turns) and following are the keys for the roll:

Roll Meaning “B2” The player receives double boost. Double the roll that is on the regular die “B3” The player receives triple boost. Triple the roll that is on the regular die “GTP” The player chooses a spaceship that gets to land on a nearest planet (No fate card) “ET” The player gets an extra turn to roll the die. The player cannot split the roll between space ships. “NB” There is no boost on this roll. Use the roll on the regular die to play on this turn. “RR” Retro-Rockets are fired on this roll. Go backwards the number of spaces on the roll of the regular die.

The Fate cards may comprise of one or more of the following keys or activities or a combination thereof. These are examples, and there may be lot more activities or keys based fate cards as will be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art. Generally one activity or key is provided per fate card.

1. Blast off from current planet on any roll on the next turn 2. Report to International space station (ISS) (#1, or #2 etc) 3. Teleport an astronaut to Jupiter from your space ship 4. Convert space ship to hybrid fuel. Free fuel for next three turns 5. Return to your base on Pluto space station 6. Teleport one astronaut from any ISS to Earth 7. Send one astronaut to ISS (#1 or #2 etc) 8. Loss of power. Lose power die for two turns 9. Go at half power or lose the power die for next two turns 10. UFO sighted. Command to follow the UFO. Gain two extra turns 11. Teleport an astronaut to earth from a space ship 12. Teleport an astronaut from any planet to earth 13. Space ship explosion. Lose the ship and all the astronauts 14. Bump an opponent's ship to a planet of your choice 15. Mars rover spotted. Get an extra roll 16. Stay on the current planet for one extra turn 17. Recalled by mission control, go back to your Pluto base station 18. Land on space elevator. Free entry to land on Earth 19. One free entry to earth on any turn for this ship. 20. Hubble telescope solar panel is in-operational. Go to earth landing zone to fix it. 21. Spot Haley's comet. Get an extra turn

22. Go to Mars to fix Mars Rover

23. Special boost. Go to another planet on this turn 24. Apollo Mission in trouble. Go to Earth landing zone to rescue. 25. Hit by a laser weapon. Spaceship is in-operational. 26. Find three fuel tanks on the planet. Get one extra roll. 27. Astronauts sick. Blast-off is delayed. Lose a turn 28. Teleport an astronaut to Saturn from your space ship 29. Teleport an astronaut to a specific planet (indicated on the card) from your space ship 30. Set up a fuel station at a location of your choice 31. Go to nearest ISS 32. Missed entry to the planet. Go around the orbit of the planet. Lose one turn 33. Discover a rare element. Get an extra roll.

The Emergency cards may comprise of one or more of the following keys or activities or a combination thereof. These are examples, and there may be lot more activities or keys based emergency cards as will be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art. Generally one activity or key is provided per emergency card.

1. Solar panel malfunction. Astronaut does a space walk to fix it. Lose a turn 2. Acid rain on the planet. Wait for it to stop. Lose a turn 3. Fuel leak. Lose one fuel tank card 4. Fuel tank explosion. Lose a space ship and astronauts. 5. Electromagnetic interference in radio communication. Wait one turn for it to clear. 6. Loss of cabin pressure. Emergency landing to the nearest planet. 7. Bad weather on the planet. Circle in orbit for an extra turn. Lose a turn 8. Computer systems malfunction. Debug the problem. Wait one turn to fix systems 9. Solar flares cause electrical circuit malfunction. Lose a turn to fix circuits. 10. Stuck in asteroid belt. Avoid being hit. Lose two turns.

Lightyear Space Domination:

Goal of this game is to conquer the solar system. The first player to own five or more planets wins in a two player game. The first player with four planets wins in a three or more player game. The players start from their Pluto space station and move on to dominate different planets by battling their rival players. If everyone except one player runs out of resources, the player that has resources left automatically wins.

Number of Players:

This game may be played by one or more players.

Board Setup:

Divide up astronauts between the players equally. All the astronauts of a player start from their Pluto Space Station.

Shuffle the “Fate” cards and “Emergency” cards and place them on the labeled spots on the board.

Game Pieces: 1. Regular Die 2. Power Die 3. Battle Die

4. Fuel tank cards 5. Fuel Station markers

6. Astronauts

7. Space ships

Start:

1. Players roll a regular die to decide who starts first and gets to pick their Pluto space station first. 2. Player with the highest roll selects the Pluto space station first. Color of the star on the station defines the color for this player. 3. Players take turns in clock-wise direction starting from the person with the highest roll. 4. Each player gets equal number of space ships on their Pluto Space Station. Each player gets all same colored space ships. 5. Each player gets equal number of fuel station markers. 6. Each player gets equal number of fuel tank cards. 7. A player starts a new ship always on “Start” location with his/her colored star.

Rules:

Rules of the space domination version of Lightyear are primarily the same as that for the Lightyear rescue game except for the battle rules below. The play rules are similar to the rescue game, except all of the player's astronaut start from their Pluto Space Station.

During the game the players can attack each other's space ships when they come within four or a predefined number of spaces of each other. The choice whether to battle or not is with the player who arrives near other player's space ship.

Space Ship Battle Rules:

Each space ship starts with a total shield of 10. When a space ship's shield reaches zero, the player loses this space ship and all the astronauts on that space ship.

When two player's space ships are within four spaces of each other they can battle. Each player rolls a regular die first. The roll of this die gives the attack strength for this player. For example if the roll is a four, the attack strength is four. Then each player rolls a battle die which is labeled as follows, where the roll is treated as an attack or defense boost as per the following table:

RA Raise the attack on the opponent's space ship by adding one to roll of the regular die. DA Double the attack on the opponent's space ship by doubling the regular die roll. TA Triple the attack on the opponent's space ship by tripling the regular die roll. SS Receive super shield for this roll. Opponent cannot do any damage to your shield LO Lower opponents attack by 1. Reduce the final attack of the opponent by 1. RO Lower opponents attack by 5. Reduce the final attack of the opponent by 5.

Once both players have done the rolls, subtract the attack numbers (Higher Attack—Lower Attack). The resulting attack number is the damage caused to the player's space ship shield with lower attack strength.

The battle between the ships stops for this turn. A new attack can be initiated again, if one of the opponents roll brings the ships within four spaces of each other.

Planet Conquest

Each space ship can start with a maximum of four or any predefined number of astronauts. When a space ship lands on a planet that has no astronauts, the player may establish a base by putting one or more astronauts to establish a base on this planet. Each astronaut adds a shield value of five to the base (i.e. if a player sets up a base with two astronauts, the shield value of this base is 10).

When a player arrives on planet that already has a base of an opponent, they battle each other. The battle on a planet continues until one of the two players wins the battle unlike the Space Ship battle rule above. A player can decide how many astronauts they want to land on the planet for the battle.

Each astronaut adds a shield value of five.

The players battle for domination of the planet as follows:

Each player rolls a regular die first. The roll of this die gives the attack strength for this player. For example if the roll is a four, the attack strength is four. Then the player rolls the battle die, where the roll is treated as an attack or defense boost as per the following table:

RA Raise the attack on the opponent by adding one to roll of the regular die. DA Double the attack on the opponent by doubling the regular die roll. TA Triple the attack on the opponent by tripling the regular die roll. SS Receive super shield for this roll. Opponent cannot do any damage to your shield LO Lower opponents attack by 1. Reduce the final attack of the opponent by 1. RO Lower opponents attack by 5. Reduce the final attack of the opponent by 5.

Once both players have done the current rolls, subtract the attack numbers (Higher Attack−Lower Attack). The resulting attack number is the damage caused to the player with lower attack strength.

The players keep on attacking each other (i.e. rolling the dice as above) until one of them wins this battle. When the shield value of one of the players' astronauts (all combined on this planet) reaches zero, the opponent wins the battle.

The winner of the conquest now gains strength of the opponents astronauts beside his/her astronauts on this planet. So, if two players do the battle with two astronauts each, then the winner now has four astronauts and a shield power of 20 (five per astronaut).

A player that establishes bases on five or more planets wins the game in a two player game.

When three or more players are playing space domination, a player with bases on four or more planets wins the game.

Return to Pluto Space Station

When a space ship has placed some astronauts on a planet, it can go back to their Pluto space station traveling through the board using the die rolls. When this space ship reaches the player's start space or one space before or after the start space, this space ship can board new astronauts. However, at no time are more than four astronauts or a predetermined number of astronauts allowed on one ship

While the foregoing has been with reference to particular embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in these embodiments may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention. 

1. A board game comprising at least one rule of game play for playing by at least one player using at least one playing piece, and at least one die, said at least one die is rolled to play the said board game, said board game comprising a plurality of marked spaces, said marked space comprises at least one action which is taken when said at least one player's said playing piece reaches the said marked space during the said player's turn, said board game further comprising: a. at least two concentric circular or elliptical paths comprising said marked spaces on which said player's said play pieces are placed and moved during game play; b. at least one connector path comprising said marked spaces to connect the said concentric circular or elliptical paths; and c. at least one connector play rule of said at least one rule of game play to allow said player's said play piece to move on the connector path, to enter or to leave the said connector path to or from the said concentric circular or elliptical paths.
 2. A board game comprising at least one rule of game play for playing by at least one player using at least one playing piece, the board game further comprising at least one numbered die that is rolled to play the said board game, and the board game further comprising a modifier die that is also rolled with the said numbered die, wherein the said modifier die modifies the result of the roll of the said numbered die, and the said game pieces are moved using the modified resulting roll.
 3. The board game of claim 2 further comprising a plurality of marked spaces, said marked space comprises at least one action which is taken when said at least one player's said playing piece reaches the said marked space during the said player's turn, said board game further comprising: a. at least two concentric circular or elliptical paths comprising said marked spaces on which said player's said play pieces are placed and moved during game play; b. at least one connector path comprising said marked spaces to connect the said concentric circular or elliptical paths; and c. at least one connector play rule of said at least one rule of game play to allow said player's said play piece to move on the connector path, to enter or to leave the said connector path to or from the said concentric circular or elliptical paths.
 4. The board game of claim 1 comprising said at least one die, said at least one die is a numbered die that is rolled to play the said board game, and the board game further comprising a modifier die that is also rolled with the said numbered die, wherein the said modifier die modifies the result of the roll of the said numbered die, and the said game pieces are moved using the modified resulting roll.
 5. The board game of claim 3 comprises of a game of space with solar system planets laid out on the board, said planets can be reached by playing the said play pieces using the said concentric circular or elliptical paths and the said connector paths, wherein the said play pieces comprise at least one play space ship and at least one play astronaut, and the said play space ships may be moved on the said paths based on the said modified resulting roll.
 6. The board game of claim 4 comprises of a game of space with solar system planets laid out on the board, said planets can be reached by playing the said play pieces using the said concentric circular or elliptical paths and the said connector paths, wherein the said play pieces comprise at least one play space ship and at least one play astronaut, and the said play space ships may be moved on the said paths based on the said modified resulting roll. 